Technical Field
The description relates to thermo-mechanical stress reduction in semiconductor devices.
One or more embodiments may apply, e.g., to integrated circuits, e.g., for automotive and consumer products.
Description of the Related Art
Various types of integrated circuits (ICs) may adopt technologies such as BCD (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) technology.
BCD technology may be advantageously used, e.g., to produce integrated circuits ICs with both power electronics and logical control electronics. BCD technology provides a family of silicon processes, each of which combines the strengths of three different process technologies onto a single chip: bipolar for precise analog functions, CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) for digital design and DMOS (Double Diffused Metal Oxide Semiconductor) for power and high-voltage elements.
Implementing BCD technology may involve top layer copper metal interconnections, called Re-Distribution Layer (RDL).
Resistance of passivation and intermediate insulating layers against reliability issues, as caused, e.g., by thermo-elastic coupling and stresses during wire bonding and packaging processes, may represent factors deserving attention.
Silicon nitride (SiN) or silicon carbide (SiC) may be used in manufacturing ICs to provide a passivation layer for microchips, e.g., to provide a barrier against water molecules and other sources of corrosion and instability in microelectronics.
In structure corners of metallizations such as Cu (copper) RDL top metallizations, stresses may arise due to thermo-mechanical mismatch between different materials, e.g., barrier layer (TiW, Ta, TaN), metallization capping layer (Ni—Pd, Ni—Pd—Au, Ni—Au), passivation layer (SiN, SiC) triple point).